1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for managing work machines such as construction machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
A construction machine is installed with a service meter, and by reading the value of this service meter, the amount of time one construction machine has been in operation can be learned.
However, one construction machine is often used alternately by a plurality of operators. Hence, by simply reading the service meter, the extent to which each operator has operated the construction machine cannot be learned.
Thus, a first problem to be solved by the present invention is to enable management of the amounts of time each operator has operated a construction machine.
An administrator for managing construction machinery dispatches a service person to the location of a construction machine either periodically or whenever a request is received from a user (operator), and this service person performs services such as inspection and repair.
However, whether or not the service person has actually performed services such as repair, parts exchange, or inspection depends upon the subsequent report made by the service person, and thus a time delay occurs from the actual performance of these services to the administrator learning the results of these services. Further, due to an error or the like by the service person, services may not actually have been performed, or a report of the service results may be omitted.
Further, if the position of each of the locations at which service persons are present cannot be learned in real time, then it may be impossible for the administrator to impart dispatch instructions accurately.
Therefore, a second problem to be solved by the present invention is to allow an administrator to learn accurately and in real time without any time delay whether services have actually been performed on a construction machine by a service person, and to allow an administrator to provide work instructions to a service person and perform service person performance management and labor management easily and accurately.
Construction machines such as hydraulic shovels and cranes are provided with attachments, or in other words attachments, which are switched according to the type of work. Taking a hydraulic shovel as an example, attachments such as a bucket, a breaker, a slope-finishing bucket, a demolition fork, and a grapple are switched in accordance with the type of work. The switching operation is performed by a service person.
A rental company manages a large number of construction machines to which various attachments are attached. A construction machine with an attachment which matches a customer request is left and loaned to the customer.
In a conventional rental company, a whiteboard is provided, and customer requests are responded to by noting the attachment situation of each construction machine on this whiteboard.
However, making notes on a whiteboard must be entrusted to human hands, and as a result time delays may occur due to neglect, mistakes, and so on. Moreover, a different attachment to the attachment noted on the whiteboard may be attached in reality.
Thus rental companies are unable to promptly loan construction machines in accordance with customer requests, and as a result business opportunities may be lost.
Therefore, a third problem to be solved by the present invention is to enable customer requests to be dealt with promptly by allowing the attachment situation of a construction machine to be grasped accurately and in real time.
Construction machines often operate in remote areas, and such locations are often outside of areas in which communication via portable telephone or the like is possible. As a result, the operator of the construction machine is unable to contact the administrator.
In order to solve this problem, it is possible to provide separate communication means such that mail messages can be transmitted and received between the construction machine and a terminal on the administrator side.
A monitoring panel is installed in the construction machine and a display unit is disposed on the monitoring panel. In so doing, transmitted and received communication messages may be displayed on the display unit of the monitoring panel.
However, information which is important when driving such as caution marks and operating conditions (cooling water temperature, oil temperature, oil pressure and so on) must be displayed on the display screen of the monitoring panel in the construction machine at all times. As a result, communication messages must be displayed together with this important driving information on the limited space of the display unit.
Moreover, it is desirable that the communication messages be understood by an operator regardless of his/her native language.
Thus a fourth problem to be solved by the present invention is to allow communication messages to be displayed together with important driving information on the limited space of a display screen on a monitoring panel, and also to allow communication messages to be understood by an operator regardless of the native language of the operator.